This Lehigh Valley police force may be the next with body cameras

Not a single one of the Bethlehem Police Department's squad cars have working dashboard cameras.

In today's digital world, where police incidents routinely show up on the news, Bethlehem needs to get with the times, Chief Mark DiLuzio said.

DiLuzio wants to outfit the department's fleet of squad cars with dashboard cameras and equip his officers with body cameras.

Evesham Chief of Police Christopher Chew demonstrates a Body Worn Camera System to be worn by every patrol officer in the department, Friday, July 18, 2014. NJ Advance Media file photo

He's included the request in the city's 2017-2021 capital improvement plan, which city council reviewed for the first time Tuesday night.

"I think it's time for them to protect citizens and to protect cops," DiLuzio said.

Cameras can show exactly what transpired when there's a complaint against police or when someone is charged criminally, he said.

Nationally, there's been a movement for police departments to add or require body cameras in the wake of fatal officer-involved shootings and questionable police actions recorded by bystanders.

When there is a video of an unlawful use-of-force complaint, U.S. Department of Justice statistics show the cameras help prove that the majority of complaints are unfounded, DiLuzio said. Not having the cameras opens the city up to liability issues, he said.

Bethlehem has had only three police officer-involved shootings in recent years, the chief noted.

All police officers are being judged by the actions of a few -- and cameras can help clear that up, DiLuzio said.

"There is so much false information in the media about what police do," he said.

The Allentown Police Department outfitted its officers with body cameras last year through a Department of Justice grant. Lehigh University, Bethlehem Township and South Whitehall Township police all have body cams.

The city's non-utility capital plan calls for spending $220,000 over five years to install dash cameras into 34 police vehicles and spending $150,000 over five years on body cameras. The city is proposing seeking whatever grants it can and relying on borrowing for the rest.

Councilman Shawn Martell commended DiLuzio for bringing the proposal forward, but agreed it is unfortunate this is today's reality.

"It is difficult to put a price tag on something that may be able to exonerate an unjustly criticized officer or a citizen in an unfortunate situation," Martell said.

DiLuzio acknowledged that both projects are costly undertakings. The squad car dash cameras would be his first priority, so the department is on par with others in Pennsylvania.

Back in 2007, about three-quarters of city police vehicles had working dashboard cameras. Two years ago, six to nine of them worked and none do today after a server stopped working, DiLuzio said.

Diluzio wants to equip 125 of his 155 officers with body cameras eventually. He plans to start out with a pilot program of at least six months, so the department can test out several different cameras.

The city's police union has not been asked whether it supports body cameras, DiLuzio said. The chief noted the National Fraternal Order of Police has backed them.

Council supports the idea of body and video cameras, but seemed wary of the associated costs.

Councilman Michael Colon asked about the life expectancy of the cameras. Councilman Eric Evans expressed concern about borrowing money to buy technology that could be outdated before the bonds were paid off.

Body cameras, dash cameras and civilian videos appear on television regularly following police shootings, DiLuzio noted. But city police rarely use deadly force.

In 2007, Christopher Eric Johnson, 21, was killed by police on Catasauqua Road after he shot Bethlehem police Officer Stephen Marks twice in the legs. Johnson robbed two teens in the woods along Route 378 and shot one of them before he encountered police.

In 1997, city police shot 21-year-old John Hirko Jr. 11 times in a raid, killing him. Following an almost six-month civil trial, the city agreed to pay Hirko's family, fiancee and landlord almost $8 million. It led to police department reforms and accreditation.